There's a lot to be said for
concentrating on just one or two
regions, rather than trying to
cover a bit of everything in one
trip - you could happily spend a
week or two in any one of the
Austrian provinces, or
Länder
. Austria's unique combination of
outdoor attractions and classic
urban centres ensures that you can
pack a lot of variety into your
stay: take in some fresh air at a
high altitude, linger over one of
the country's world- class art
collections, make the most of a
musical heritage second to none,
or select any number from the list
of recommended highlights below.
Without a visit to Vienna
you'll return home with only half
the picture. Built on a grand
scale as seat of the Habsburg
Empire, it's a place that
positively drips with imperial
nostalgia. The pickings are rich,
with the old palaces of the
Hofburg and Schönbrunn high on
the list, as are the cultural
offerings from the gargantuan art
collection at the
Kunsthistorisches Museum and the
hi-tech applied-arts displays of
the MAK. Equally compelling,
nowadays, are the ghosts of
Vienna's golden age at the end of
the nineteenth century, when the
likes of Freud, Klimt, Schiele and
Schönberg frequented the city's
cafés. The city boasts some
wonderful Jugendstil and early
modernist buildings and a bevy of
traditional fin-de-siècle cafés
patrolled by waiters in tuxedos.
Last, but by no means least,
Vienna is by far the best place in
the country for nightlife, and
that means everything from
top-class opera to techno.
Salzburg is no less
intoxicating. Its Altstadt
contains the country's most
concentrated ensemble of Baroque
architecture, and the
Hohensalzburg fortress is arguably
the country's most impressive
medieval castle. A substantial
musical pedigree is ensured by the
city's status as the birthplace of
Mozart and venue of the Salzburg
Festival, one of the world's most
renowned celebrations of classical
music and theatre. Of Austria's
other regional capitals, Innsbruck
combines both a buzzing nightlife
and close proximity to some of the
Tyrol's highest peaks to make it
one of Austria's most popular
destinations. Its attractive and
largely medieval city centre
focuses on the Hofkirche, site of
the memorial to sixteenth-century
Habsburg strongman Emperor
Maximilian I. In the Styrian
capital, Graz , main
attractions include the town
centre, the fine-art collections
of the Landesmuseum Joanneum and
the Baroque Eggenberg Palace.
Austria's second largest city is
also a good base from which to
venture out into the vineyards and
pumpkin fields of the rural
southeast.
Explorations down back streets
of Austria's small medieval
towns , many of which are
still enclosed by their original
walls, will reward you with hidden
arcaded courtyards, tinkling
fountains and overflowing flower
boxes: Freistadt in Upper Austria,
Hall in the Tyrol and Friesach in
Carinthia present the pick of the
bunch. Lower Austria has the
country's highest concentration of
monasteries , ranging from
the Baroque excess of Melk,
Altenburg and Zwettl to the likes
of Heiligenkreuz, built on the
cusp of the stylistic transition
from Romanesque to Gothic. For
unadulterated Romanesque
architecture, head for Gurk in
Carinthia; for Rococo floridity,
Wilhering in Upper Austria is hard
to beat. Austria also holds a
bewildering variety of castles
and chateaux , from fortified
seats such as Forchtenstein in
Burgenland to luxury aristocratic
piles like Artstetten in Lower
Austria. The two finest imperial
palaces are the magnificent
Baroque residence of Schönbrunn,
on the outskirts of Vienna, and
Schloss Ambras, the archduke
Ferdinand of Tyrol's Renaissance
treasure-trove near Innsbruck.
Musical pilgrimages are
possible to the birthplaces or
resting places of such luminaries
as Beethoven, Bruckner, Haydn,
Liszt, Mozart, Schönberg and
Schubert. The country's top music
festivals , among them the
Salzburg Festival, the Haydn
Festival in Eisenstadt and the
chamber music festival in
Lockenhaus, draw international
performers and audiences alike. At
both the Bregenz Festival and the
operetta festival in Mörbisch,
floating stages host top-class
performances against a shimmering
backdrop.
Austria's main lakeland area
is the Salzkammergut, where the
Wolfgangsee, Mondsee, Traunsee and
Hallstättersee offer a
combination of water-based
pursuits and stunning scenery. To
the south, the Carinthian lakes of
the Wörthersee, Ossiachersee and
Millstättersee boast good
bathing, boating and windsurfing
facilities. In the far east of the
country, the reed-encircled
Neusiedlersee, Austria's only
steppe lake, provides a total
contrast, and an opportunity to
marry beach culture with a spot of
bird-watching.
Austria forms one of Europe's
most mountainous countries, yet an
excellent network of transport
links puts even the dizziest of
heights within reach. Key summer hiking
areas are the alpine regions of
western Austria, stretching from
northeastern Styria and eastern
Carinthia through the
Salzkammergut, Salzburger Land,
Tyrol and Vorarlberg. For snow
sports , the Salzburger Land,
Tyrol and Vorarlberg boast the
highest concentration and widest
range of modern, fully equipped
resorts.
Finally, a great deal of
Austria's industrial heritage has
been put to good touristic effect,
and many of the show-mines
count among top attractions. If
you have time to visit only one of
them, pick from the following: the
iron-ore workings at Eisenerz in
Styria, the salt mine at Bad Dürrnberg
in the Salzburger land, the salt
mine above Hallstatt in the
Salzkammergut, the lead mine at
Bad Bleiberg in Carinthia, and the
silver mine at Schwaz in the
Tyrol.
